Air discharge register



N QE Ihventofi Paul LKoo'iker,

His AttoP'n June 5, 1951 P. KOOIKER AIR DISCHARGE REGISTER Filed Feb. 19, l949 Patented June 1951 AIR DISCHARGE REGISTER Paul I. Kooiker, East Orange, N. J., assignor to General Electric Company, a corporation of New York Application February 19, 1949, Serial No. 77,302

3 Claims.

This invention relates to air conditioning systems and more particularly to an improved air discharge register assembly for hot air heating systems.

- It is an object of this invention to provide an improved air discharge assembly for hot air heat ing systems of the high velocity distribution type.

It is another object of this invention to provide an improved air dischargeregister assembly for hot air systems for facilitating the distribution of air-near the wall of an enclosure to be heated.

It is a further object of this invention to provide an improved damper mechanism and control for regulating the flow of air in an air discharge assembly.

It is a still further object of this invention to i provide an improved air discharge assembly which is compact and simple in construction and inexpensive to manufacture and install.

Further objects and advantages of this invention will become apparent as the following description proceeds, and the features of novelty which characterize this invention will be pointed out with particularity in the claims annexed to and forming a part of this specification.

For a better understanding of the invention, reference may be had to the accompanying drawing in which Fig. 1 is a front elevation, partly in section, of a grille and damper assembly embodying this invention, and Fig. 2 is a sectional view taken along the line 2-2 of Fig. 1.

Referring now to the drawing, the air register illustrated in Figs. 1 and 2 comprises generally an elongated rectangular sheet metal casing I!) mounted within the wall of an enclosure having a face board or finished layer H, the casing Ill extending through the layer I! and having its open front side closed by a register grille plate [2. Whena damper I4 is in its open position, as indicated by the dotted lines in Fig. 2, air is admitted to the casing from a duct l3 and enters a plenum chamber [5 defined by the rear and side walls of the casing and the plate l2 constituting the front wall thereof. The air fills the plenum chamber and is discharged therefrom through two angularly directed passages l6 and I! extending about the top and two sides of the grille plate. The air is discharged through the grille at an acute angle with respect to the plane of the wall II, that is, with respect to the plane of the outlet opening of the plenum chamber. In a high velocity air circulating system the duct l3 has a relatively small area, substantially smaller than the area of the bottom of the casing in; however, the arrangement of the plenum chamber and the discharge passages l6 and l! assures even distribution of the air over the face of the grille.

The grille plate 12 is made in two cast metal sections, a base or plate member is and a central louver member 19, secured to the base member by a screw 29 engaging a boss 2| in the center of the plate and by two pins 22, one at each end of the louver l9 engaging lugs 23 formed on the plate 18.

The plate has been illustrated as decorated in accordance with the design disclosed and claimed in Design Patent No. 156,790 issued January 3, 1950 on an application of Arthur C. Wesche, filed concurrently with this application and assigned to the same assignee.

The inlet opening of the casing indicated at 24 is in the bottom or lower side wall of the casing adjacent the top of the duct l3 and the flow of air through this inlet is controlled by the damper M which is pivotally mounted on a rod 25 at its rear edge adjacent the back wall of the casing, the rod being journaled in a pair of lugs or tabs 26 welded or otherwise secured to the bottom wall of the casing. The damper, which thus rotates about a horizontal axis parallel to the plane of the outlet opening and at the rear of the casing. is biased to its closed position by a pair of torsion springs 2? one about either end of the rod 25 and each having one end attached to the damper and its other end attached to the lug 26. A gasket 28 of felt or other suitable sealing material is secured to the damper about the edges thereof and seals the opening 24 when the damper is in its closed position.

In order to move the damper between its open and closed positions, a crank 29 is rotatably mounted in the plate l2 on its shaft indicated at 30 and is provided with an extended crank pin 3| having a length extending over the major portion of the depth of the casing ii]. The pin 3| engages a longitudinal guide 32 comprising a wire bent in elongated inverted U-shaped form and welded or otherwise suitably secured at its ends to the damper [4 near the front edge of the damper. A control knob 33 is secured to the shaft 30 outside the plate l2 and the shaft 30 is slidable axially within the plate I 2, it being biased to its inward position by a compression spring The knob 33 can thus be pulled outwardly from the casing until a stop 35 on the shaft Sill limits the outward movement. The plate It is provided with a pair of recesses 36 and 31 arranged to engage a pin 38 fixed in the knob 33 so that the knob may be locked in either of two positions and may be changed from one position to the other by pulling the knob outwardly and rotating the crank until the pin engages the other recess and is retained in position by the spring 34. The damper mechanism may thus be locked in either of two positions, the crank, rotating from its damper closed position, as shown in the full lines in Fig. 2, to its damper open position, as shown in the dotted lines in Fig. 2. As viewed in Fig. 1, the knob 33 is rotated in a clockwise direction and it will be apparent that upon rotation from the position of Fig. 1 the crank pin 3| will engage.

the guide 32 and lift the damper against the force of the springs 21', the guide 32 allowing movement of the pin longitudinally with respect to the damper and also allowing theguide to move longitudinally of the pin as the damper pivots upwardly about its axis 25 until it reaches the position shown by the dotted lines in Fig. 2. In its open position the damper, as shown in Fig. 2, is at an angle of about sixty-five degrees and further movement is stopped by the engagement of the pin 38 in the recess 31; however, should the control knob 33 be twisted farther without releasing the knob and allowing the pin to engage the recess, a turned-up portion 39 at the end of the pin 3| will prevent disengagement oi the pin and the guide 32. It is thus apparent that a simple and effective arrangement has been provided for actuating the damper positively to either of two positions and also for affording ready removal of the register plate i2 from the casing in, it being readily apparent that the pin 3! will be disengaged from the guide 32 when the plate is drawn forwardly from its position in engagement with the wall I l. casing it] so that it may readily be removed for servicing or cleaning. In order to remove the plate, the screw 20 is first removed and the louver plate 19 moved forwardly to disengage the pins 22 from the lugs 23. the vertical portions of the outlet opening at the ends of the register so that screws 43 engaging the lugs 23 and brackets 4! on the casing IE may be removed. The plate 12 may then be drawn forwardly from the casing It. The reverse procedure is, of course, followed on assembly of the plate to'the casing, the pin 3! being first placed in position within the loop of the guide 32. When the plate I2 is in its final position, a gasket 62 extending about the edge of the plate seals the opening between the plate and the finished wall H and prevents leakage of air around the edge of the register.

During the operation of the register when it is desired to circulate heat into the room or other enclosure, the knob 33 is turned in a clockwise direction to raise the damper to its open position, whereupon the pin is engages the recess -31 and locks the'damper in its-open position. Air is then discharged from the duct it into the plenum chamber and thence outwardly through the passages t5 and ill in a relatively thin, fan-shaped zone the general plane of which is at an acute angle to the surface of the wall E i. This secures a uniform distribution of the heated air and also induces a circulation of air within the room which ispicked up by the effect of the relatively high velocity of the discharged air. As a result, a curtain or wall of warm air is circulated both upwardly and laterally from the register openings.

'When it is desired to stop the admission of air,

the is returned to its closed position where it is locked by engagement of the pin 38 in thesrecess 36 and wherein the damper is held by "the springs 2i so that the gasket 28 ispressed The plate i2 is attached to the This provides access through 4 between the damper and the sides of the opening 24 to seal the air duct.

It will be apparent from the foregoing that a simple, easily operated air register assembly, particularly for hot air systems of the high velocity type, has been provided by this invention and that the assembly may readily be installed and is easily operated and serviced.

While a specific preferred embodiment of the invention has been illustrated and described,

modifications will occur to those skilled in the art,

and it is intended by the appended claims to cover all such modifications which fall within the spirit and scope of the invention.

What I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States is:

1. An air discharge assembly for air conditioning systems and the like comprising a casing having front and rear and side walls providing a plenum chamber and having an inlet opening in one of said side walls and an outlet opening in said front Wall for the admission of air; to said chamber and the discharge of air therefrom, a deflector arranged in said outlet opening at an acute angle with respect to the plane of Said outlet opening, a two-position damper pivotally mounted on said casing rearwardly of said inlet opening along its side remote from said outlet opening and arranged within said chamber to completely close said inlet opening in one position and to afford free passage of air through said inlet in its other position, a longitudinal guide on said damper near the forward edge thereof, a crank having a shaft mounted on said casing in front of said damper and with its axis extending transversely of the axis of said damper, said crank having a pin extending rearwardly of said casing and en ing said guide whereb upon rotation of said shaft said damper is rotated about its axis Within said chamber to control said inlet opening, a knob outside said casing for turning said crank, said crankshaft being mounted for limited axial movement toward and away from said casing and means including a locking pin releasableupon movement of said knob away from said casing for selectively securing said crank in either of two positions for holding said damper closed and open respectively.

2. An air discharge assembly for air conditioning systems and the like comprisinga casing pro-- viding a plenum chamber, said casing having a rear wall and an open front wall and a bottom wall extending therebetween and provided with an inlet opening for admitting air to said chamber, a detachable closure plate for said front wall and an outlet opening for discharging air from said chamber, a two-position damper pivotally mounted on said casing along the side of said inlet opening remote from said outlet opening and arranged to completely close said inlet opening'in one position and to afford free passage of 'air through said inlet opening in its other position, means for biasing said damper to its closed position, a longitudinal guide on said damper near the edge thereof remote from its pivot, a crank having a shaft mounted on said closure platein front of said damper and with its axis extending transversely of the axis of said damper, said crank having a pin ext-ending rearwardly of said casing and fricticna-lly engaging said guide for openin said damper upon rotation of said crank, said crank pin being free foriremoval from said guide upon detachment of said plate and movement of said plate bodily away from said casing...

3.1'AI1 air; discharge assembly for air "conditi 3 ing systems and the like comprising a casing having front and rear and side walls and providing a plenum chamber, said casing having an outlet opening in its front wall and an inlet opening in one of its side walls for introducing'air to and for discharging air from said plenum chamber, a two-position damper pivotally mounted on said casing along the side of said inlet opening remote from said outlet opening and arranged to completely close said inlet opening in one position and to afiord free passage of air through said inlet opening in its other position, spring means for normally biasing said damper to its closed position, a, longitudinal guide on said damper near the edge thereof remote from its pivot, a crank having a shaft mounted on the front wall of said casing and a pin extending rearwardly of said casing and engaging said guide for opening said damper upon rotation of said crank, a control knob arranged in front of said basing on said shaft for manually rotating said shaft to move said damper to its open position, and locking means including a spring for biasing said knob toward said casing for retaining said damper in its open position.

PAUL I. KOOIKER.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 548,695 Capron Oct. 29, 1895 1,675,854 Hart July 3, 1928 1,726,792 Altman et a1 Sept, 3, 1929 2,113,240 Pierson et a1 Apr. 5, 1938 2,179,707 Bernhardt NOV. 14, 1939 2,203,120 Young June 4, 1940 2,300,049. Kurth Oct. 27, 1942 2,360,888 Peple, Jr Oct. 214, 1944 1,397,672 Leigh Apr. 2, 1946 2,467,309 Hart et a1. Apr. 12, 1949 2,471,980 Maynard et a1 May 3 1, 1949 

